Molecular electronics

Abstract

The prospects of using organic materials in electronics and optoelectronics applications have attracted scientists and technologists since the 1970s. This field has become known as molecular electronics. Some successes have already been achieved, for example, the liquid-crystal display, organic light-emitting displays, and photoreceptors in electrophotography. Other products such as organic photovoltaic devices, chemical sensors and plastic transistors are developing fast. There is also a keen interest in exploiting technologies at the molecular scale that might eventually replace silicon devices. This chapter provides some of the background physics and chemistry to the interdisciplinary subject of molecular electronics. A review of some of the possible application areas for organic materials is presented and some speculation is provided regarding future directions.